The present invention is directed toward a window washing pole arrangement and, more particularly, toward a counterbalance for use with a window washing pole that reduces the strain and fatigue on the arms of a window washer and also decreases the risk of injury to the window washer and others nearby. The invention also decreases the risk damage to the window washing pole and to property in the vicinity.
Extendable poles for window washing are well known in the art and are widely used. Typically, scaffolding or a support lowered from a roof is used when cleaning windows on very tall buildings or on a building having seven or eighth floors or more. On the other hand, extendable poles are typically used for washing the windows on shorter buildings and sometimes for windows located on the lower five or six floors of taller buildings. These poles normally have a handle section at the bottom and a brush at the top. In addition, a fluid supply line within or carried outside of the pole carry water or cleaning fluid up to the brush.
There are, however, several problems with using such poles. For example, in one known system, the poles typically have several telescoping sections. This makes the pole rather heavy and somewhat cumbersome to use from the ground even when the pole is collapsed or telescoped in. The weight of the pole puts substantial strain on the arms of the window washer who must move the entire pole, brush and fluid up and down repeatedly. This causes great fatigue thereby reducing the amount of work that a window washer can perform.
In another type of extendable pole known in the art, several sections are provided that may each be six to feet long. The sections are releasably connected to each other end to end such as by a threaded connection, locking tabs, or the like. Cleaning fluid passes up through the center of the pole. When only the lowermost section is used to wash the windows on the bottom floor, the pole may not be particularly heavy. However, when five or six sections are interconnected, the combined pole along with the brush and fluid may weigh fifty pounds or more.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/0123344 to Bensussan discloses quick release connections for an extensible pole used to extend the reach of a variety of tools, such as a window washing implement. This pole also, when extended, may be rather heavy and cumbersome.
The weight of the pole, with the resultant fatigue on the window washer's muscles is not the only negative of such prior art systems. Because of the length of the pole, particularly in its fully extended position, it is unstable and can easily tilt to the left or right when being used and can fall causing damage to the pole or the building or other objects in the area. The falling pole may also cause injury to bystanders or to persons passing by.
Therefore, a need exists for an extendable pole system for washing windows that will not cause fatigue in a window washer and that will not cause damage or injury due to the pole accidentally falling.